Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP)

Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP) are a set of eight high-level principles that describe what a trustworthy recordkeeping and information governance program should achieve, regardless of industry, technology, or jurisdiction. The eight principles are accountability, transparency, integrity, protection, compliance, availability, retention, and disposition. Rather than prescribing specific tools or file formats, GARP gives organizations a shared vocabulary and a maturity model for assessing how well their records are managed against recognized expectations.

GARP matters because it bridges high-level governance goals and day-to-day practice: it helps justify retention schedules, defensible disposition, and access controls to auditors, legal teams, and leadership. For example, the “disposition” principle supports destroying records once their approved retention period ends, while “protection” guards privacy-sensitive content. Unlike electronic-records certification regimes (notably the now-revoked NARA endorsement of DoD 5015.2, which shifted toward the Universal ERM Requirements and FERMI), GARP is principle-based and technology-neutral, applying equally to paper and electronic systems.